While most of Europe was illiterate and still recovering from the Black Death in the late 15th century, Leonardo da Vinci was brainstorming helicopters and scuba gear on his sketch pad. Though automotive suppliers do a lot of today’s in-car innovating, da Vinci’s spirit lives on in car companies, where in-house engineers dream up the next generation of technologies and apply for patents to protect the most promising breakthroughs. We’ve sifted through the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office’s (USPTO) records for a look at what might be the automotive future—or might turn out to be nothing more than entertainment for future historians.

On-Board Driver’s Ed.Company:FerrariOfficial USPTO Name:Method for assisting high-performance driving of a vehicleWhat It’ll Do:Using the nav system and an estimate of the driver’s reaction time, the car will coach its driver on the best way through upcoming corners. It will tell him when to start braking, when to turn in, when to reapply the throttle, and when to shift.Reality Check:It would almost certainly need to be limited to track use, and could be reserved exclusively for Ferrari’s 458-series track cars. But it could be a logical extension of the multi-stepped stability-control program already employed in those cars.Status:Filed in 2009; patent pending.

The Missing LinkageCompany:BMWOfficial USPTO Name:Vehicle having a transmission and a selection element for shifting gearsWhat It’ll Do:Replace the physical connection between a manual shifter and a transmission with actuators that mimic the feeling of a physical connection. It sounds crazy, but BMW says it could be used on manuals with as many as eight gears to keep the shift pattern compact. The computer also could lock out certain gates, preventing a driver who’s lost in such a large pattern from grabbing the wrong gear. The system could readily be applied to automatics, too.Reality Check:Bet on it. With Nissan and Porsche offering automated rev-matched downshifts—and the latter with a seven-speed manual—our favorite transmission type is in a rare era of innovation. Besides, BMW has shown an unending desire to toy with everything on the center console.Status:Filed in 2012; patent pending.

Smartphone Steering WheelCompany:General MotorsOfficial USPTO Name:Motor vehicle with a touchpad in the steering wheel and method for actuating the touchpadWhat It’ll Do:Provide driver controls for HVAC and other systems, presumably with more options than the physical buttons already adorning many modern steering wheels.Reality Check:Even though it would lock out when the wheel is turned past a certain point, it’ll never get past safety watchdogs.Status:Filed in 2010; patent pending.

PATENTLY OBVIOUS?The future takes many forms. Sometimes it even explodes out of the center of your steering wheel. Here is a look at the first appearance of patent filings for a few now-commonplace technologies.